the afterthought
EXCERPT from hunger 36 (faik mini issue)
ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHY BY RANKIN
AI GENERATOR RANKIN
WRITTEN BY RANKIN
In my creative career, something that has been invaluable to me — especially when I can’t seem to get inspired — is to just start. Whether it’s a shoot or I’m writing, whether it’s beauty, fashion, or a conceptual idea, the instinct always kicks in if I begin the making. Making has always served me well. In fact, some of my best portraits come out of just riffing with the person I’m shooting. I guess it’s instinct kicking in when you really need it. And this active making of work is inspiring because the collaboration is incredibly pure. You don’t enter a situation with preconceived ideas — you’re more open, as long as you can face the fear of embarrassment.
I’ve watched other creatives do exactly the same thing. For example, when I directed The Muppets, I sent script after script which, in retrospect, weren’t right at all. I was told by The Muppets team that I shouldn’t worry — that they would come up with stuff on the day. (It was just a fashion film.) Now, directing anybody is always daunting, but imagine directing the most incredible comedy talents in the world. That’s what those puppeteers are. Plus, to go into that shoot without a script is one of the most scary things I’ve ever done. But what was obvious was that, once we were there, the team’s inherent creativity took over. They jumped into the writing process and it was so organic and so exciting — and also very inclusive of me and what I was trying to achieve for Katie Grand, who’d commissioned it.
I guess this is also one of the reasons that I never preconceive portraits or portrait concepts too tightly. If you’ve not met somebody before, you don’t want to have a prepossessed idea of who they are from the media and mediation. I’ve learned never to trust how people have been presented.
In fact, the person that taught me that was David Bowie. Back in 1995, I got the opportunity to photograph him and jumped at it. I couldn’t be more excited to get to meet the coolest person in the world.
My perception of him had been through seeing images and interviews with him, and he just seemed so aloof, distant and cool. Then the first moment he came into the room, he was like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh — bouncing and excited. He couldn’t have been further from what my preconception was. From there on, I never judged anyone until I met them.
There is something so special about that off-the-cuff connection. Sometimes it can be fun, like a game or a dance; other times it can feel weirdly sacred. But what I’ve really learned from all of this is to trust my gut and just start making. Which is exactly what we’ve done with this issue.
This has been a weird issue for us all. For most people, the world feels pretty crazy right now, and we are no exceptions. We’ve had so much uncertainty in the last year, both personally and as a business. Which is why I’m so proud of this issue — because, against all the odds, we’ve managed to pull something off that I really love. From the people that we’ve featured to Sound Bite, to the work that I’ve done myself in FAIK, all of it just feels exactly right for right now.
We didn’t really have a theme for the issue going into it — very unusual, but I can only put it down to it being such a strange time. So what you’re reading really has been us trusting our gut. And I think it’s paid off. Really.
As always, I hope you enjoy reading HUNGER as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it together. It really is an honour to be able to do this with people that I love and admire.